Blogged

Blogging initially feels like wading in very shallow but murky waters. There isn’t enough to drown and there isn’t much clarity to allow you to see what lies beneath. But it gives joy, nevertheless. Should you choose to see it.

Of the many things I’d imagined blogging would give me (instant fame, an Oprah interview, a sheepish S (who claimed my writing ‘sucks’) looking to hide somewhere), I hadn’t imagined a “Stylish Blogger Award”. But it has come before all the others. And I am glad it did, for even though the “enigmatic origin of this award” (Linda’s words) might make it seem like those things Facebook and the like promote, it isn’t. Simply because the person who nominates you, nominates you because they have paid attention to your writing. I feel good, Linda of What comes next?, for you read my writing and considered me to be deserving of this award. Thank you.

Like Linda, I have decided to pass on the award to people I think deserve to be acknowledged for stylish blogging.

Unlike Linda, I did not research much about this chain of sorts. To make matters worse, I have been sneaky and pasted the rules (yes there are rules) from hers. (Sorry).

Here they are:

Make a post and link back to the person who awarded you this award.

Share 7 things about yourself.

Award 5 (depends on who sent you the rules) recently discovered great bloggers.

Contact these bloggers and tell them they’ve won!

Sharing 7 things about myself has been the most difficult of all the above. Which is why I chose to carry on this chain post in the first place. It is an opportunity to tell you about myself without telling you I scratch my butt when no one is looking. So:

1. I love fish. Not in the sense of loving them on my plate, but love to watch them swim. I talk often about my love for dogs, sometimes about my love for cats, but seldom about my love for fish. Watching them swim gives me the sort of joy some people derive from pranayama or marijuana, maybe. Fishes are my marijuana.

2. When I am very tired by afternoon and want to sleep, and do sleep, I curse myself. It feels positively horrible when you wake up after a long nap in the afternoon. Especially when those afternoons are in a muggy Indian town.

3. I did not tell the complete truth when I said I wanted this blog to act as my microphone to voice my writing. I also wanted it to somehow aid me in writing a book and then publishing it. I am hoping that the day will come soon!

4. I believe (wait, before you read this, let me plead fantasy, not insanity) that all that the humans have discovered until today has a contrary truth. For instance, we believe (and indeed, know) that earth is a sphere and it revolves around the sun and the sun is a humongous ball of fire; but is it not possible that someone out there is just watching us from the front seat, staging our movements? Remember, think fantasy.

5. I used to talk to small toads when I was around 5. And wrap them up in neat little paper wraps after our conversation and line them up inside my study desk at home. I used to think I was collecting friends. When my parents discovered my collection, I discovered what happens if you wrap a creature inside a paper wrap and safe keep it within the wrap.

6. I got my nose pierced when I was 25, because I felt like it.

7. On my first day as a teacher, I forgot that I wasn’t a student. In the morning assemblies in most Indian schools , the multitude of kids are disciplined with a military “Attention” – “At ease” routine. It is only for the students. But I attentioned and at eased until amused grins reminded me I’d grown up. Or should at least act like I have.

The best part about blogging is finding people like you. People who think and believe the same as you, and surprisingly, it doesn’t matter where they are and what awaits them beyond their computer screens — sand, ocean, snow, dust, love, laughter, disappointments. I am thankful to the following people for having made my blogging, and indeed in many ways living, experience more wholesome.

Mostly Bright Ideas’ Charles Gulotta – His blogging is stylish because he weaves life in it. Not many can. His posts have not only given me insights about writing humour (if I tell you I secretly wish I had a trace of humour in my writing, I’d be revealing point 8), they have made the blog world a fun place to be in.

Absurd Old Bird’s Val Erde – She is stylish. Period. Her words reflect the wisdom that can only come through years of bird watching and living. Val’s posts range from the disarmingly honest to the funnily honest. (And her Photoshop creations make me want to have a beautiful home in which to hang some).

What comes next?’s Linda – Her poignant expressions sometimes take my breath away. Another honest soul, who dares to write, and how. And I love the comments she gives here and elsewhere at other blogs. I have been visiting her for hardly a few weeks now, but I know already that her stylish simplicity is something I find worth exploring.

Snoring Dog Studio’s SDS – My first visit to Snoring Dog Studio completely won me over with its water colour paintings and the writer’s obvious compassion. Subsequent visits showed that she has wit and repartee to tickle the worst Grinch. Stylish? Ueber stylish.

Wondering Rose’s Rosanne Freed – What I like about her style is that she turns the seemingly mundane to the hey!-that’s-refreshing! That in itself speaks a lot, doesn’t it? Besides, I haven’t seen any other blog that makes the photo of a sunset or of a girl visiting a museum leave me with the feeling of having ‘experienced’ it first hand. I don’t know how, but Rosanne does it very well.

One of the few chain things I’ve enjoyed doing is now almost complete. I must go and alert these five people, in keeping with the rules.

And having decided to dispense with the usual image that goes with this chain, I feel I owe a photo to this post. Here it is.

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16 thoughts on “Blogged”

Thanks Priya. I don’t usually accept blog awards and when i do I sort of mess them up a bit (have a look in my ‘other stuff’ pages) but I’ll do my best! Will have to wait til tomorrow probably as I’m very sleepy right now.
Hugs.

And you’ve done a great job of it, too! Thank you for thanking me there (which I’ll write there as well). I enjoyed doing this and didn’t give much thought to the ‘chain’ part of it. It felt good to write about myself and about the people I enjoy visiting! Perhaps this is what appealed to you about it as well.

Thanks for this “Stylish Blogger Award” award Priya. I’m very honored to find myself among this group of wonderful bloggers, and to know that someone paid attention to my writing.

I love the 7 things you shared. It makes me feel as though you’re an old friend. I had my ears pierced when I was 25. When I was 19 I worked as a nurse aid at a Children’s Hospital, and on my first day I walked past a sick kid who was calling “Nurse Nurse!” and was so angry that the nurse was ignoring the crying. Took me a while to realise he was calling for me.

😀 I can imagine your reaction to the child’s “Nurse, Nurse!” Sometimes changes happen too soon to allow us a “yes!”, right?!

Our ears are pierced at a much younger age here in India. Nose piercing, on the other hand is now considered ‘too rural’ by many, which is why most girls get it done in college or thereafter if they succumb to the trend. I wanted a pierced nose ever since I heard someone say it suits only ‘those sharp noses’ . I have a stub. But I think it* looks quite ok on me!

It’s an honor and a pleasure to sit in your audience and watch what you do, and to have gotten to know you a little, as well. Regarding your seven points, here are my brief responses to each of them: 1. I share your love of fish. 2. Napping is a very forgivable offense. Actually, not an offense at all. 3. I can’t wait to read your book. Books. 4. Maybe the entire universe is just a clump of foam in someone’s hot tub. I hope not, but maybe. 5. Your heart was in the right place. 6. That’s the best reason. 7. Please don’t ever grow up completely!

And one more thing: 8. You have a wonderful sense of humor. That’s part of why I hilariously enjoy reading your blog.

Thank you Priya for acknowledging my humble attempts to swim through the murky shallows. When I began blogging I had only read one or two and really had no idea what it was all about. It’s been a fun exploration and I’m happy to have found gems below the murk. At times, I think I’m snorkeling in an ocean filled with beautiful, stylish fish. And you, obviously are one of them. I love that you stood at attention if front of your students! Caught in the act of simply being yourself. I love that.

And to show that I’m paying attention….Dhanyavad! (although I wouldn’t know how to pronounce that.) The world is our stage.

Was it the imagination of a person high on fish that made you laugh? Now that I think more about it, it can be a possibility worth exploring — allowing the rush of what you enjoy doing to give you the exact high a drug would. Michelangelo must’ve been dangerously ‘drunk’ while he painted.